1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the use of a radiant incubator for infant care.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Neonates, particularly prematurely born infants, require special care for a period after being born. In particular, they require environmental control including tight control over the environmental temperature and also the quality of the air by which they are surrounded. In such circumstances it is typical for the neonate to by treated in an incubator using convection heating or other methods to maintain the ambient air temperature.
There are a number of other methods known in the art for regulating the temperature of the infant. For example, WO 98/48757 discloses the construction of a radiant heating element which can be used in infant radiant warmers of varying type. U.S. Pat. No. 5,817,002 relates to a combination incubator with radiant warmer which is operable in a number of different modes and includes convective heat transfer and heated air curtains in addition to the radiant heating head. U.S. Pat. No. 5,285,519 describes a transparent film radiant heater provided in the form of an incubator hood. U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,229 relates to an infant radiant warmer incorporating transparent film radiant heating panels. U.S. Pat. No. 5,119,467 describes an incubator with clear radiant elements integrated with the hood. U.S. Pat. No. 4,972,842 concentrates on the monitoring of physiological parameters associated with the ventilation of infants during assisted ventilation, as an adjunct it refers to providing a constant temperature environment for the infant using a combination of convective and radiant heating. U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,263 relates to the provision of a bubble-like self-supporting thermal barrier for use with neonatal infants on open radiant warmer beds or in convection warmed infant incubators. EP 619995 appears to show a radiant warmer in which the radiant heating source is divided into two blocks which are spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of the table to which the heating unit is attached. GB 1546734 includes side panels which are raised to xe2x80x9cat or about blood heatxe2x80x9d. It is unlikely that actual radiant heating of the infant is anticipated, rather than the temperature of the convected air is not affected.
To some extent, at least the above examples will be ineffective at accurately regulating the temperature of the infant. Further, in many cases the method used will be inefficient. In the incubatory examples when access is required the infant will often go unheated while being attended to.
This is an object of the present invention to provide a radiant incubator which goes some way toward overcoming the above-mentioned disadvantages or which will at least provide the health care industry with a useful choice.
Accordingly, in a first aspect the present invention may be broadly said to consist in an apparatus for heating an infant comprising or including:
surface for supporting said infant,
cover means configured to extend over said surface and including a portion which may be configured to at least a substantially visually opaque state or a substantially visually transparent state,
at least one radiant heating means in proximity with either said cover means or said surface, and
control means for energising said at least one radiant heating means such that in use the skin temperature of said infant is regulated within a predetermined range.
In a second aspect the present invention may be broadly said to consist in a mattress configured for use in a neonatal incubator comprising or including:
a flexible support structure being transparent to infra-red wave length radiant energy, and
a radiant element being located underneath said flexible support structure including: a housing means having a contact surface for contacting the underside of said flexible support structure; one or more radiant heating elements disposed within the bulk of said housing means in a location spaced from said contact surface; and an infrared radiation barrier means blocking infrared radiation from said elements in directions away from said contact surface; said housing means incorporating infrared transmission means between said elements and at least adjacent regions of said contact surface, and said adjacent regions of said contact surface being infrared transmissible also.
To those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The disclosures and the descriptions herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.
The invention consists in the foregoing and also envisages constructions of which the following gives examples.